Frank Marth(1922-2014)
- Actor
Versatile, diligent character actor Frank Marth was a familiar presence
in just about every major American prime-time TV show of the
60's and 70's. The native New Yorker got his big break as a member of Jackie Gleason's
stock company, perennially cast as uncredited background characters in
Cavalcade of Stars (1949)
and The Honeymooners (1955).
According to series co-star
Audrey Meadows he was "worth his weight
in gold". Thereafter, granite-faced, sober-looking Marth became
omnipresent on the small screen for more than two decades as tough
cops, FBI agents and stern military brass. Amazingly, he was overlooked
for the part of a KAOS operative in
Get Smart (1965) (which would have
been perfect casting !) but made up for it with Luger-wielding Count
von Waffenschmidt and assorted SS officers in
Hogan's Heroes (1965). He was
also a favorite in anything sci-fi, whether as a sinister alien in
The Invaders (1967) or as THRUSH
agent Carl Voegler in
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964).
He appeared suitably taciturn as Colonel Brody, stymying dinosaur-hunting
Darren McGavin in
Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974).
Perfectly cast yet again, he gave the medics a hard time as a hard-nosed tank commander
in the M*A*S*H episode "Hey,
Doc". He had other recurring uniformed roles in
The Dirty Dozen (1988)
and
War and Remembrance (1988).
Marth was married to stage and screen actress Hope Holiday.
Marth was married to stage and screen actress Hope Holiday.
